Join NH Audubon’s Becky Suomala for a program about the state-endangered Common Nighthawk and the effort to install gravel nest patches on roof tops.

Nighthawks are declining throughout their range and biologists do not know why. The dawn and dusk “peent” call of these birds was once a familiar sound in cities and towns throughout New Hampshire, where they nested on flat, pea stone gravel roofs and fed on insects attracted to city lights.

In recent years, rubber and PVC have largely replaced pea stone roofing, and nesting nighthawks have disappeared from many New Hampshire towns. New Hampshire Audubon initiated Project Nighthawk in 2007 to investigate the potential for restoring nesting nighthawks by placing simple gravel “nest patches” on flat rooftops.

Becky will also share the latest news on nesting nighthawks in the Ossipee pine barrens and share stories on the successes and failures of nighthawk nests that Project Nighthawk volunteers have monitored. Becky Suomala is a biologist with NH Audubon and the coordinator of Project Nighthawk.